1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a method for providing a haptic effect in a portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, a plurality of applications may be stored in portable terminals such as, for example, smart phones and tablet Personal Computers (PCs). Objects (i.e., shortcut icons) for executing the respective applications may also be displayed on touch screens of the portable terminals. Hence, the user may execute a desired application in the portable terminal by touching one of the shortcut icons displayed on the touch screen. In addition, visual objects are displayed on the touch screen of the portable terminal in various forms, such as, for example, widgets, pictures, and documents, as well as the shortcut icons.
As such, the portable terminal provides a touch input scheme in which the displayed objects may be touched using an input unit such as, for example, a user's finger, an electronic pen, a stylus pen, etc. As the input scheme, there may be a touch input scheme based on contact with a user's body or a touchable input unit and a non-contact input scheme such as hovering.
Presently, in an input scheme using a touch screen, when a user inputs a touch, a vibration pattern is generated using a vibration element that allows the user to feel as if the user had pressed a button.
However, a user may often want to manipulate an application while not viewing the touch screen of the portable terminal, e.g., when self-capturing. Furthermore, a need exists for an interface which is convenient, especially for blind people.